Best Porsche 911 GT3 R takes up endurance classic from sixth grid row

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With this result, the local hero and his teammates Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Earl Bamber (New Zealand) head into the 70th edition of the Ardennes marathon for the KÜS Team75 Bernhard squad from P11.

Frédéric Makowiecki helmed the cockpit of the Porsche 911 GT3 R (#911) for the Manthey-Racing team. For the Frenchman, the clock stopped at 2:19.649 minutes, which represented ninth place in the Super Pole. This position, however, was not upheld. Due to a speed infringement in the pit lane during free practice, Frédéric Makowiecki and his teammates Romain Dumas (France) and Dirk Werner (Germany) will be relegated ten spots down the grid. Thus, Manthey-Racing tackles the long-distance classic in Belgium from position 19.

A total of 221 drivers and 63 vehicles tackle this year’s 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Thirteen manufacturers are represented at the 70th edition of the Ardennes marathon, which is regarded as the largest and most important GT3 event in the world.

Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser (Vice President Motorsport and GT Cars): “The Super Pole was okay, but not fantastic. The pressure of competition here at Spa is extremely high. We are not coping as well with the heat as our competitors, but we’re within striking distance. It’s supposed to be slightly cooler on Saturday and that would help us. The important thing at Spa is not to make mistakes. The key to this race will be consistency.”

Sebastian Golz (Project Manager 911 GT3 R): “We concluded the Super Pole on positions nine and twelve, so nothing is lost yet. The rate of retirements at Spa is high, hence we need to now focus on the race, put in a consistent drive and keep out of any trouble. Then anything’s possible here.”

Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 911 GT3 R #117): “I’m not happy with the result. I had a clean and flawless lap, but in terms of pace I couldn’t do more. It’s not easy for us in this heat. I hope if the temperature cools down on Saturday during the race it’ll be better.”

Frédéric Makowiecki (Porsche 911 GT3 R #911): “My lap was good but unfortunately I made a small mistake in Eau Rouge because the tyre pressure wasn’t quite right. But all in all I’m satisfied. We have a good car and now we need to concentrate on the race.”

1. Vanthoor/Riberas/Mies (B/ES/D), Audi R8 LMS, 2:18.578 minutes
2. Baumann/Kirchhöfer/Martin (AUT/D/B), Aston Martin Vantage, +0.605 seconds
3. Rast/Müller/Frijns (D/CH/ND), Audi R8 LMS, +0.788 seconds
4. Aleshin/Molina/Rigon (RU/ES/IT), Ferrari 488 GT3, +0.855 seconds
5. Van der Linde/van der Linde/Schmidt (ZA/ZA/CH), Audi R8 LMS, +0.915 seconds
9. Makowiecki/Dumas/Werner (F/F/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R, +1.071 seconds
12. Bamber/Bernhard/Vanthoor (NZ/D/B), Porsche 911 GT3 R, +1.316 seconds

Earl Bamber (New Zealand), Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) lapped the 7.004-kilometre circuit at the wheel of the #117 Porsche 911 GT3 R in a time of 2:19.843 minutes. With this result, the KÜS Team75 Bernhard has qualified for Friday’s Super Pole, where the 20 fastest cars will fight for the best grid positions for the 24-hour marathon in the Ardennes.

A new qualifying format for the long-distance classic in Belgium was introduced this year: Each driver in a vehicle is given 15 minutes to turn a fast lap. The final qualifying time is determined by the average of the fastest laps set by all drivers in a team.

Driving for Manthey-Racing, Frédéric Makowiecki, Romain Dumas (both France) and Dirk Werner (Germany) also qualified for the top-20 session. With their Porsche 911 GT3 R (#911), the trio achieved a time of 2:20.144 minutes, which ultimately put them on 13th place.

24 Hours of Spa: largest and most important GT3 event in the world

Putting in a strong qualifying performance, Herberth Motorsport planted the #991 Porsche 911 GT3 R on second place in the Am-category. The crew from Black Swan Racing finished the session in the Pro-Am class on seventh. A total of 221 drivers and 63 vehicles tackle this year’s 24 Hours of Spa. Thirteen manufacturers are represented at the 70th edition of the Ardennes marathon, which is regarded as the largest and most important GT3 event in the world.

First contested in 1924, the Spa 24-hour race is just one year younger than the legendary long-distance classic at Le Mans. The last overall victory for Porsche in the Ardennes was achieved in 2010 with Romain Dumas, Jörg Bergmeister, Wolf Henzler and Martin Ragginger in the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by the BMS Scuderia Italia team. Since 2011, the event on the 7.004-kilometre Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps has represented a highlight on the international GT3 calendar. The presentation of the race cars on Wednesday in a motorcade from the racetrack to the town of Spa has become legendary. The race takes off on Saturday at 16.30 hours.

Porsche supports four customer teams with works drivers and engineers at the race on 28-29 July. Tackling the event are the two Porsche teams from the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, Manthey-Racing and Herberth Motorsport, as well as the KÜS Team75 Bernhard and Black Swan Racing squads. Six current works drivers as well as the former factory driver and the current head of Porsche Customer Racing, Marc Lieb, form the driver crews in the four customer racers. For the marathon race in Belgium, 68 cars from 13 marques are entered. In addition to the 64 vehicles that comply with the FIA GT3 regulations, four other vehicles are registered, including three Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars.

The 24 Hours of Spa takes off on 28 July at 16.30 hrs CEST and will be broadcast live on the websites of the Intercontinental GT Challenge and the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. On television, Eurosport televises live reports and highlights of the event in Belgium. In addition, the German TV station Sport1 will show highlights and background reports from Spa in the “Porsche GT Magazin” on Sunday at 22.00 hours.

 

The cockpits of the two 911 GT3 R entered in the pro-driver category are shared exclusively by works drivers: Competing for Manthey-Racing are the regular drivers in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, Romain Dumas, Frédéric Makowiecki (both France) and Dirk Werner (Germany). The car run by KÜS Team75 Bernhard is shared by the two former Le Mans overall winners Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Earl Bamber (New Zealand) as well as the Le Mans class winner Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium). The two American drivers Tim Pappas and Marc Miller join forces with Jeroen Bleekemolen (Netherlands) to contest the Pro-Am class for Black Swan Racing. They will be supported by Marc Lieb, who was part of the team at the first race of the Intercontinental GT Challenge at Bathurst, Australia, in February. Herberth Motorsport’s 911 GT3 R is piloted by Jürgen Häring, Edward-Lewis Brauner, Wolfgang Triller and Alfred Renauer. The four Germans will tackle the amateur category for gentleman drivers. With Dumas, Lieb and Vanthoor, there are three drivers in the Porsche squad that have already scored overall victory at Spa.

The 911 GT3 R was designed by Porsche for worldwide GT3 series. Mounted with the ultra-modern, four-litre flat-six engine with direct fuel injection, the customer sports racer celebrated its race debut in January 2016 at the Daytona 24-hour race. Since then, it has notched up victories in numerous international racing series, such as the IMSA SportsCar Championship, the World Challenge, the ADAC GT Masters, as well as the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. For 2018, Porsche offers its customer teams an evo-kit.


911 GT3 R, Manthey-Racing, Le Castellet, 2018, Porsche AG

The Intercontinental GT Challenge is the first global racing series with GT3 vehicles as the top calss. It was founded in 2016 by the SRO Motorsports Group led by Stéphane Ratel. Rather than compete with a factory squad, Porsche supports international customer teams in their campaign with the 911 GT3 R by providing works drivers and engineers from Weissach. For each race, a maximum of four vehicles selected by the manufacturer are entitled to earn points. Of these, the two best-placed vehicles at the end of the race are awarded points for the manufacturer’s overall classification. In the driver’s category, however, the drivers of all cars nominated by manufacturers are eligible for points.

4 February: Bathurst 12 Hour, Bathurst/Australia
28/29 July: 24 Hours of Spa, Spa-Francorchamps/Belgium
26 August: Suzuka 10 Hours, Suzuka/Japan
28 October: California 8 Hours, Monterey/USA

The Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, also run by the SRO Motorsports Group, is reserved for race cars that comply with FIA GT3 regulations. Storied racetracks, cost-effective conditions of participation and equality in terms of technology thanks to the Balance of Performance form the framework of this customer-oriented championship. The season highlight of the championship, the 24 Hours of Spa, is run alongside the Intercontinental GT Challenge. In the series contested all over Europe, there are overall classifications for teams and drivers.

22 April: Monza/Italy (3 hours)
20 May: Silverstone/Great Britain (3 hours)
2 June: Le Castellet/France (6 hours)
28/29 July: 24 Hours of Spa, Spa-Francorchamps/Belgium
30 September: Barcelona/Spain (3 hours)